Feast of Power
‘Has the feast for the division of power and party after the war already begun?’ After walking out of the Marquis’ mansion, Leylin sighed inside. After the fall of Silverymoon, the chaos in the north could be said to have ended.
With powerful defensive spells and numerous strong beings, Silverymoon did cause huge damage to the orc forces. Even the orc emperor Saladin had sustained grievous injuries and was now in a coma. It was said that he had only been able to retain his life because of the god’s possession.
After swallowing up Silverymoon and the surrounding regions, the orc armies now had no more strength to carry on south. With the trials and unions of war, an orc empire took shape and slowly established itself in the skeleton of Silverymoon. This was much more important than expansion.
Once they succeeded, this would also be a boost for the orc god Gruumsh. After all, he was the god of all orcs.
‘The human gods wouldn’t let the orcs head south anyway...’ Leylin sat in the horse carriage, his eyes dark.
‘Mystra is far too powerful, and that caused the reservations of the gods from her faction. The numerous conflicts that amassed in the north combined to give this result... All the scheduled plans have succeeded. Weakening the Goddess of the Weave is enough, and the human gods would probably not want the orc god to get stronger...’
Leylin was rather surprised by Mystra’s tolerance. That she could even disregard her daughter in name and Silverymoon showed how immense the stress on her was.
‘In general, the orcs have gotten a pretty good opportunity. It’ll be hard to get them to spit up what they’ve already gained, but they also don’t have more strength to stir up trouble...’ Leylin had a keen grasp on this, something far too few in the World of Gods understood.
The gods here were held high and untouchable! With tens of thousands of years of praise from the churches, regular humans now treated gods like true saints, believing them to be emotionless. They forgot that these deities were merely stronger versions of regular people, and had it in them to feel happiness, anger, sorrow and joy.
On one level, the gods were even more emotional than regular humans!
‘It’s not that they can’t recognise it. It’s more that they’re afraid to do so!’ Leylin snickered. ‘It’s not as if I haven’t seen people who blindly make excessive declarations and fool themselves into believing it while they’re at it...’
This was an exaggeration caused by the environment, and a limitation from the era they were in. If not for Leylin coming from another world and having had experiences in the Magus World, he wasn’t guaranteed to have seen through this either.
Not everyone dared tear off this pretense, looking down on the gods with contempt. The terror of burning at the stake for disrespect had long since shackled the original occupants of the World of Gods.
The few who were aware of the situation could not make any changes to it, and could only grieve and go insane over this...
“Master!” A dim light enveloped the cabin in an instant, creating a noise-isolating barrier. A small figure jumped out from within the cabin, bowing to Leylin respectfully.
Even with Leylin’s strength, it was impossible to create a tremendous intelligence network out of nothing in a short period of time. However, with Beelzebub’s generous aid, things were different.
Leylin had taken control of all the worshippers of the Sovereign King of Gluttony in the north. The methods he’d used were the same as always. The name of Kukulkan had long since been blacklisted by many churches, marking him a wanted man.
“Did you investigate properly?” Leylin flicked his nail, producing a crisp sound.
“Yes... the human nations in the south have already passed a secret motion regarding the division of land amongst the feudal vassals in Yorkshire and other places. Marquis Lancet seems to be backed by the church of wealth, though he is also colluding with devils...”
Working with devils did not mean believing in them. Who knew, it could even be someone under Beelzebub.
In reality, other archdevils were doing quite well in the prime material plane. While gathering his forces here, Leylin had met followers who believed in other devils as well. After all, the worshippers who had lost Beelzebub’s protection were the best prey.
“While everything was done on the sly, our men managed to find out about it...” The tiny figure sounded smug, but Leylin was not really happy. After all, it was easy for devils to discover other devils.
“Do you know which devil it is?” Leylin asked dully.
“Archdevil Mammon, in charge of the third level of the nine hells of Baator. I’ve seen one of the devils under him, and he’s appeared near the Marquis’ manor...” The small figure answered surely.
“Greed? That does seem to suit Lancet.” Leylin chuckled as he spoke.
The World of Gods had a huge dimensional universe. The outermost layer was the terrifying crystal sphere, tenaciously rejecting all communication with the outside.
Within it, the prime material plane was the foundation of the rest. There were tremendously vast dimensional spaces both above and below it, greatly surpassing it in scale.
If the World of Gods was compared to a meat pie, then the prime material plane was definitely the filling. The top was the land of the world of gods, while the bottom layer was the boundless abyss and hell. Around the pie were many semi-planes, littered around like sesame seeds.
While this description had some errors to it, it was pretty accurate.
The prime material plane wasn’t just connected to numerous semi-planes and the dimension’s core. It was also the world’s main source of faith and souls. Thus, the gods, demons, and devils all coveted it, launching into wars for its control. This had already happened numerous times.
The hells of Baator had originally been one with the abyss, but they’d separated for some reason. The devils and demons had turned into mortal enemies, occasionally breaking out in huge bloody wars.
The hells now had a total of nine levels. However, as the devils were in charge of order, they usually had the upper hand in battles.
The archdevil unlucky enough to fall at Leylin’s hands, the Sovereign King of Gluttony Beelzebub, was the master of the second layer of hell.
‘The first layer of hell is a public area, where many huge, ambitious devils try to gain control. There are even some humans and other races living there. The second level is Beelzebub’s territory, though it now lacks a master. The third belongs to Mammon...’ Leylin immediately recalled the intel he had on the hells. That was only possible thanks to Beelzebub’s selfless contributions.
“Greed, huh.” Leylin sighed. As devils could control human hearts, these archdevils’ laws were usually inclined towards emotions.
“Forget it, don’t do anything for now.” Leylin shook his head, “Anything else?”
“Hehe... Master, I bewitched another follower on my way here. She wanted my help to protect her status as a noble, and I’ve already agreed...” The tiny figure’s voice became tender, like a little girl acting coquettishly.
“Don’t even think of doing that in front of me.” Leylin warned her, a dark lustre shining in his eyes. That immediately caused the figure to start quivering.
“Your– Your subordinate wouldn’t dare!”
“A noble? Who is it?” After disciplining her, Leylin asked with interest.
“Miss Mila of the Shump Family! Her father and brothers all died at the hands of horse-mounted, and their territory is coveted by her other relatives. Without support, she’ll probably await death in a monastery...
“Based on what I know, she will appear at Marquis Lancet’s wine reception!” The figure added.
“An arranged marriage? While this might be a terrible custom, it really is the best method.” Leylin nodded. Thieves still had to observe table manners when sharing the loot. It was far too difficult to allow the poor to directly become nobles, and the resistance was far too powerful.
A marriage would make things easier, making the other nobles accept things more comfortably. In a situation like this where all the direct family members were dead, the daughter they left behind was a target that a whole group of wolves would drool over.
“She’s rather smart. What does she want? What can she give?” Leylin asked calmly.
“The Shump Family has the hereditary title of viscount, and they have land north of Yorkshire. She can take in our people and allow them to hold office in the territory that will belong to her husband. However, only heirs of her bloodline will succeed the noble title...”
“That’s not too harsh. I’ll agree once I see her...” Leylin nodded.
‘However, taking her as my bride at this point would seem like I’m showing off. Getting the title of viscount while my father is still a baron makes things awkward... More importantly, I can’t stay in the north permanently...’ Leylin sunk into deep thought.
‘Seems like Miss Mila should look for a husband from among my underlings. Tiff’s not that bad. It’s not like we can’t change things in terms of his appearance and age, and I can use this opportunity to give him a new identity...’ Leylin promptly decided the fate of this noble lady.
This was how cruel the real world was. If not for Leylin taking over, she would be in a more pitiful state.
“I’ll also need to help my men settle down and reward them...” Leylin knew fully well that the reason they were following him was because they believed he could bring them wealth and status. It was the basis of their loyalty.
Most of the time, what those at the bottom yearned for was to have his leftovers after he took the juiciest benefits. It was only because of their existence that Leylin could participate in this feast of bandits, getting his share of the profits with difficulty.